| The Others | - The Others' eponymous debut album is out on Monday 31 January
- The single, Lackey, precedes it on Monday 17 January
- The band play the Academy 3 on Tuesday 18 January
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Given your links to Manchester, it must be a kind of homecoming for you… "For Martin (The Others’ Mancunian drummer) it is. On the guestlist for Martin, there’s all his family, all his cousins and everything, so for him it’s a chance to get home. For me, I used to go up to Manchester when I was very young, between the ages of five and 11. My mum went out with a Mancunian and he used to take me to see City play. I saw City play in the Quarter Finals of the FA Cup in 1988, when we were the last second division side left in the cup, and the mighty Liverpool, consisting of John Barnes, Peter Beardsley and Craig Johnston, whooped us four-nil. So yeah, I’ve got some fond memories of Manchester." What’s life like in The Others at the moment? | "I’m possibly working harder than I’ve ever worked before in my life for three times less money." | | Dominic Masters on the hectic work schedule of The Others |
"Crazy. Yesterday I did Never Mind The Buzzcocks. Today, I have back to back interviews from one o’clock to 7pm. Tomorrow I have interviews from 1 to 7pm and a four hour band meeting. Saturday, Sunday, Monday, we’re in the studio doing B sides for the future single. Tuesday, we have a radio session. Wednesday, we have a day to see our boyfriends and girlfriends. Thursday, we have another radio session and Friday, we go on tour. So I’d say, as well as having 150 messages from the 853 Kamikaze Stage-Diving Division (The Others’ fan club), each day can be a very busy workload. I’m possibly working harder than I’ve ever worked before in my life for three times less money." Do you worry about getting exhausted?  | | The Others |
"I worry about a heart attack (laughs). I sometimes worry about the amount pressure that we have got on us. But the thing is, it’s now or never. If I don’t get the 40,000 records by December, you won’t be phoning me again, because I’ll be dropped off the label. That’s the cut-throat industry of signing for a major label. They want return on their investment." But you must be confident, given the success of This Is For The Poor… "For This Is For The Poor to get in at 42 was well beyond our expectations. We sold eight times what I expected to sell. But then when you saw that we were playing to the largest crowd at the New Bands Stage at Glastonbury, Leeds and Reading, plus we played to 4000 people supporting the Libertines, we’ve headlined to 2000 people at The Forum in London, it gives you some indication of the level of people we’ve reached out to." I was in the crowd at Leeds. Your shows can get a bit, erm, hectic…  | | Dominic Masters (pic: Karen McBride) |
"You’ve got to understand that our 853 Division members like to crowd-surf, they like to stage-dive, and they like to make sure they’ve got some connection with the band. The fans themselves believe that we are the people’s band because other bands don’t speak to their fans. I’ve got two phones and 3000 numbers spread between them. I make sure all the fans can speak to me on a daily basis. That’s why they go so mad, because they can see that I do everything I can in my free time to give as much as myself to them as possible." Where did the idea for the guerrilla gigs come from? "You’ve got to look at it from your point of view as a music journalist. You go to 150 gigs a year spread over 15 venues; the whole memory of these gigs tends to merge into one big gig. It’s hard to remember every gig. But you’ll remember the time The Others played a gig on Abbey Road and you’ll remember the gig we played at the dodgems at Leeds." The guerrilla gigs also let you cover all bases… "What I try to do is understand that most of our fan base hasn’t got any money. I remember before I had a job how much money I had. I worked in factories and I remember what it was like having no money. So what we do is always have a big guestlist and give away 20 or 30 free places per concert, and all of those people get those places allocated by myself. I’ve just spent four days doing that. This is a reward for them, for supporting us through our first tours. As for the guerrilla gigs, every gig is free so the kids that couldn’t see you in the venue because it was sold out can watch you later on." You mentioned your jobs before The Others. Is your manifesto to people to get up and get out, do what you want to do?  | | The Others (pic: Karen McBride) |
"It’s nearly that. We all understand that we have to pay rent, bills, food. You can live on the dole, but I grew up watching my mother be on social security. It’s a hard prospect; it can make you have no belief. I’m not saying stay on the dole and form a band. I always had jobs and I only quit my job last year. Literally I worked up to the last minute. What I’m trying to say is get your job, make sure you have some money, then whatever else free time you’ve got, devote to your career. It’s how much commitment you’ve got to your dreams. You can’t just get your dreams by going on the dole. You’re going to still need some money to support you and at the same time, you need to give yourself a high work ethic to make yourself understand that you are doing something every day to get yourself closer to your dream."
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